Paper towel dispenser cabinet



April 30, 1963 w. K. DRESSER PAPER TOWEL DISPENSER CABINET INVENTOR.

WALTER K. DRESSER Filed Oct. 27, 1960 BY 5am ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,087,662 Patented Apr. 30., 1963 free 3,037,662 PAPER TOWEL DIPENSER CABINET Walter K. Dresser, Portland, Oreg. {P.O. Box 266, Mosier, Oreg.) Filed Oct. 27, 1960, Ser. No. 65,335 2 Claims. (Cl. 22543) This invention relates to improvements in dispenser cabinets for rolls of paper towelling, wax paper, aluminum foil, and the like.

The devices heretofore proposed for this purpose have, for the most part, been complicated and expensive to manufacture and have left much to be desired in the way of neatness and compactness in installation.

Objects of the present invention are, therefore, to provide a dispenser cabinet of the type described which is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, to provide a cabinet which presents a neat and attractive appearance suitable for use in a household kitchen or public washroom and to provide an improved flush-mounted cabinet which is recessed within a wall.

In the present cabinet, economy of construction is obtained by eliminating the side and back wall portions and providing only a skeleton frame for flush mounting in a wall opening. The roll of towelling or other material to be dispensed is mounted on the inside of a bottom hinged door so as to be conveniently accessible for replacement when the door is opened. Improved means of access are provided for withdrawing the material as needed while, at the same time, keeping the torn edge of the material concealed so as not to detract from the neat appearance of the device.

Still other objects and advantages will become apparent and the invention will be better understood from the following description of the preferred embodiment illustrated on the accompanying drawing. Various changes may be made, however, in the construction and arrangement of parts and all such modifications within the scope of the appended claims are included in the invention.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation view of the present cabinet installed in a wall;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of FIGURE 1 with the door opened.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the present cabinet is mounted in a wall between a pair of studs or other upright members ill. The rear face of the wall is represented by boards 11 and the front face is represented by boards 12. The interior wall space in which the cabinet is mounted may be closed at the top and bottom, if desired, by horizontal cross members 13 but these are not necessary for the mounting of the device.

The cabinet consists of merely two sheet metal parts, these being a peripheral rectangular frame 15 and a door 16, both preferably fabricated of a suitable material such as sheet metal. The opposite sides of frame 15 are each equipped with an upper horizontal tongue 17 projecting into the wall opening and secured to the stud member 10 by means of a screw 18. A lower tongue 20 on each side is similarly secured by a screw 21. The lower tongues 20 are interconnected by a curved shield having a forwardly directed top flange 26. An outstanding peripheral flange 27 overlies the wall portions about the opening in which the tongues are mounted.

Door 16 is pivotally mounted in opposite sides of frame 15 on suitable pivot elements 30, the downward movement of the door being limited in substantially horizontal position by stop screws 31. A spring catch 32 or other suitable latch device is adapted to engage behind the upper edge of the frame 33 to hold the door closed. Beneath the lower edge of the door is an opening 34 of less height than shield 25.

Mounted on the inside of the door are a pair of spring arms 35 equipped with confronting bosses 36 to support a roll a paper towelling or the like 40. If desired, a sight opening 39 may be provided in the door to show the amount of material on the roll. Also, if desired, the lower edge of the door may be serrated as indicated at 41 to form a tearing edge and this edge may be recessed at 42 to provide better access for grasping the material. The door is further provided with an inwardly projecting horizontal flange '43 in the plane of flange 26 and spaced at short distance therefrom whereby the two flanges 26 and 43 provide a paper guide slot 45 which is closer to the door surface than the axis of the paper roll.

The roll of paper 40 is preferably mounted to unwind from its rear side whereby, regardless of the size of the roll as the latter diminishes in use, the lower end will be directed forwardly from the under side of the roll so as to project through the paper guide slot 45 at a forwardly inclined oblique angle tending to hold the lower edge of the paper against the inside surface of the door. When paper is drawn from the roll and torn on the tearing edge 41, the torn end does not then drop down into view in the opening 34 to present an unsightly appearance but remains concealed or substantially concealed, behind the door. If complete concealment is desired, the recess 42 may be omitted, the edge of the paper after each tear normally hanging exactly even with the tearing edge 41 and substantially in contact with the inside surface of the door as shown in FIGURE 2. When the paper is torn in the intended manner as above described, the torn end never hangs down in view below the tearing edge 41.

By thus keeping the torn end at all times disposed sub stantially against the inside surface of the door, this end may readily be grasped by inserting only the ends of the fingers into the opening 34 with the palm up and then pressing the tips of the fingers forward toward the inside surface of the door so as to engage the paper. In the case of paper towelling, the friction between the paper and the inside surface of the door is less than the friction between the paper and the fingers whereby the paper may be pulled down a half inch or so by such frictional engagement alone without requiring the thumb to grip the paper for this initial movement. Then, as the lower end of the paper appears in recess 42, or below the cutting edge 41, the thumb may be employed in the normal manner to grip against the fingers and pull the desired length of paper out through the opening 34.

In the case of wax paper or metal foil, or even in the case of paper towelling if the roll does not turn reasonably freely on bosses 36, there may not be a sufficient friction between the fingers and the material to pull out the material without using the thumb. In such cases, the recess 42 is advantageous in order to give the thumb some initial grip against the fingers to start the downward movement of the material.

In any case, the paper guide slot 45 controls the position of the paper for convenient grasp while concealed and does not allow the lower end of the paper to hang in random.- positions or in varying positions as the radius of the roll diminishes with use. The construction of the guide slot does not present a threading problem in mounting a new roll because the slot opens with the door, as shown in FIGURE 3.

Since the position of the lower end of the material is controlled in the manner described, rolls of different materials may be carried by the door in the same cabinet with the lower ends of the materials spaced or separated from each other so that the desired material may be grasped and withdrawn without also withdrawing a material which is not desired. in such case, the cabinet would be made larger either in vertical height or in horizontal depth, depending upon the available thickness of the wall, so that two or three rolls could be mounted either one above the other or one behind another or with one above and one behind the roll shown.

In this way, as many as three different materials such as paper towelling, wax paper and aluminum foil could be carried in the same cabinet with a separate guide slot for each. One guide slot would hold the lower end of one material against the door as shown with a second guide slot holding a second material against or adjacent the shield 25 and a third guide slot holding the third material in an intermediate position whereby any one of thethree could be grasped selectively without confusion.

Shield 25 conceals the back wall boards 11 so that no other back is necessary on the cabinet and also provides a guide for the fingers when they are inserted in the opening 34 with the palm up.

Having now described my invention and in what manner the same may be used, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A dispenser cabinet for flush mounting in a wall opening comprising a rectangular open back and open side frame, a peripheral flange on the front of said frame adapted to overlie marginal portions of the wall about said opening, tongues projecting rearwardly from side portions of said frame for mounting the frame in the wall opening, a flat door mounted in said frame flush with said peripheral flange and with the bottom of the door spaced above the bottom of the frame to provide an opening below the door, a roll holder on the inside of said door, a tearing edge on the bottom of said door, a vertical shield carried by said tongues recessed behind said opening at the bottom of the door and behind said peripheral flange, said shield extending behind the. door from the bottom of said opening to a level above the bottom edge of the door and providing a pocket for admitting the fingers behind the lower edge of the door to grasp material from a roll in said holder, and a forwardly projecting horizontal flange on the top edge of said shield partially closing the upper end of said pocket and forming a guide to direct material from the roll forwardly against the inside of said door.

2. A dispenser cabinet for flush mounting in a wall opening comprising an open back and open side rectangular frame having a peripheral front flange adapted to overlie the marginal surface of the wall about said opening, upper and lower tongues projecting rearwardly from side portions of said frame for securing the frame in the wall opening, a flat bottom hinged door mounted in said frame flush with said peripheral flange, a roll holder on the inside of said door, said door being of less height than the door opening in said frame to leave an opening beneath the lower end of the door, a tearing edge on said lower end of the door, a rearwardly projecting horizontal flange on said door above its pivotal axis and tearing edge and below said roll holder, a vertical shield connected with said lower tongues and recessed behind said opening beneath the door and behind said peripheral front flange, and a forwardly directed horizontal flange on the top edge of said shield in the plane of said door flange and spaced therefrom to define a guide slot, said guide slot being closer to said door than the axis of said roll holder to direct material from the back side of the roll forwardly against said tearing edge in repose position of the material, said shield extending behind the door from the bottom of said opening to a level above the bottom edge of the door and providing a pocket for admitting the fingers behind the lower edge of the door to grasp said material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,238,278 Dulle Aug. 28, 1917 2,106,363 Tesher et al. Jan. 25, 1938 2,482,714 Mell Sept. 20, 1949 2,606,724 Hertz Aug. 12, 1952 2,626,761 Simpson et a1. Jan. 27, 1953 2,643,070 Broeren et al. June 23, 1953 2,657,873 Dittman et a1. Nov. 3, 1953 

1. A DISPENSER CABINET FOR FLUSH MOUNTING IN A WALL OPENING COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR OPEN BACK AND OPEN SIDE FRAME, A PERIPHERAL FLANGE ON THE FRONT OF SAID FRAME ADAPTED TO OVERLIE MARGINAL PORTIONS OF THE WALL ABOUT SAID OPENING, TONGUES PROJECTING REARWARDLY FROM SIDE PORTIONS OF SAID FRAME FOR MOUNTING THE FRAME IN THE WALL OPENING, A FLAT DOOR MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME FLUSH WITH SAID PERIPHERAL FLANGE AND WITH THE BOTTOM OF THE DOOR SPACED ABOVE THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAME TO PROVIDE AN OPENING BELOW THE DOOR, A ROLL HOLDER ON THE INSIDE OF SAID DOOR, A TEARING EDGE ON THE BOTTOM OF SAID DOOR, A VERTICAL SHIELD CARRIED BY SAID TONGUES RECESSED BEHIND SAID OPENING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DOOR AND BEHIND SAID PERIPHERAL FLANGE, SAID SHIELD EXTENDING BEHIND THE DOOR FROM THE BOTTOM OF SAID OPENING TO A LEVEL ABOVE THE BOTTOM EDGE OF THE DOOR AND PROVIDING A POCKET FOR ADMITTING THE FINGERS BEHIND THE LOWER EDGE OF THE DOOR TO GRASP MATERIAL FROM A ROLL IN SAID HOLDER, AND A FORWARDLY PROJECTING HORIZONTAL FLANGE ON THE TOP EDGE OF SAID SHIELD PARTIALLY CLOSING THE UPPER END OF SAID POCKET AND FORMING A GUIDE TO DIRECT MATERIAL FROM THE ROLL FORWARDLY AGAINST THE INSIDE OF SAID DOOR. 